2 months Chinese Culture Class and Kung Fu Training in China

International Kung Fu Summer Camp in China

Kung Fu Zen Garden Retreat will be conducting A Special 2 Months Program on traditional Kung Fu, Chinese classical philosophy and spiritual culture. Kung Fu is not only about combat, but its essence is in mental purification, physical revitalization and knowledge of self. Therefore, program will comprise of holistic martial arts sessions led by Shaolin and Wudang Masters excelling in self-defense training, qi gong and tai chi, as well as San Huang Pao Chui styles which was developed and used by royal security agents of ancient China.

Master-teachers in classical philosophy, calligraphy, meditation and tea ceremonies will take participants through China’s spiritual sciences and arts. These include the teachings of the Great Learning, the Doctrine of the Mean, Treasures of a Wholesome Way of Life and Preservation of the Life Force. These high philosophies will be experienced through various Zen-based meditation techniques including Vipassana, Koan Zen. This ageless wisdom will be shared from the Taoist, Buddhist and Confucian perspectives.

Amenities

Traditional Kung Fu classes

Kung Fu masters will take you step-by-step through learning the skills, application and techniques of Traditional Chinese Kung Fu. Start with basic steps and stances and work your way up into full Kung Fu forms.

Chinese & English classes

Ditch the classroom and learn with your friends. Work, play, train, and chat together to learn each other’s language and forget about textbooks and writing.

Zen Meditation

The Guided meditation is like an adventure to discover the source of inner peace. Their specially trained masters will lead you through traditional meditation styles to show you into a meditative Zen state of mind.

Vacation days

Explore the vibrant, bustling city of Beijing. They have specially arranged tours to famous sites in Beijing including the Great Wall, Forbidden City and the Hutongs. As well as this, you will have free time to go shopping, try local cuisine, and see Beijing for yourself.

Movie Masters

Visit Kung Fu brothers on the movie set. They will show you how the skills you are learning can be put into modern Chinese film and used to create the amazing performances you see in film today.

Cultural lessons

The national drink of China is world famous. But do you know why? Try specialty teas and understand the ritual and social aspect of making tea in China.

Calligraphy is an internal focus of Kung Fu Zen. Create beautiful Chinese artworks to display proudly. Look at how the Chinese characters have developed over the centuries and how the process of writing reflects the state of body, breathing and mind, with the arising of enlightenment on art and yourself!

Day 12

Day 13

06:30 - 07:30 Morning exercise

07:30 Breakfast

Free Time

17:30 Dinner

18:30 Farewell party

Day 14

07:30 Breakfast

08:30 Closing ceremony

08:30 Departures

Zen martial arts

Zen martial arts practice accentuates the absence of desire, ultimate stillness which gives rise to motion, and through motion one reflects upon oneself (body, mind, and qi), so as to keep body, mind, and qi integrated. Thus, it is necessary to achieve a pure heart and a clear conscience. A serious Kung Fu practitioner must be vegetarian. Understanding the importance of adhering to a healthy diet, together with exercises will help open up all apertures, encourage good metabolism. The body becomes relaxed and natural.

Shaolin Kung Fu principles

According to traditional Shaolin Kung Fu principles, Kung Fu training is also the training of the mind. If the mind is not focused, it will adversely affect quality of ones training. When the mind is at peace and the heart concentrates, the body will be relaxed, and your breathing will be smooth, training will achieve better results. Training is about perseverance, dedication, and diligence. Behold the spirit of constant effort brings success. Haste makes waste and dedication brings success.

Overview of Shaolin Kung Fu

Shaolin Wugulun style Kung Fu is the orthodox Shaolin martial arts. It consists of practical fighting techniques created in the last thousand years by warrior monks of Shaolin Temple through actual combat. Through generations of refinement and extraction, Shaolin Martial Arts grew into a system of martial arts, which integrates Zen practice and practical combat. The unique training method has also turned this system into a brilliant health maintenance, and convalescence tool.

Kung Fu emphasizes on power, forges the coordination of the whole body through the integration of heart, mind, and qi, the synchronization of hands and feet, as well as swiftness and the agility of the body without brute force. One must seek lightness, agility, adhesion, and rotation in practice; start from elementary to complex, from complex to simple, and ultimately return to the core values and true principles.

They pride ourselves in providing the most effective platform for exchange and inspiration to achieve physical and spiritual wellbeing to the highest level. Actively preserving and promoting Chinese martial and spiritual heritage, using traditional Kung Fu as vehicle and Zen philosophy as foundation, Kung Fu Zen Garden Retreat creates a unique and systematic approach to cultivating the body and mind, improving health and learning self-defence.

They strive to be a driving force in promoting cultural exchange, physical, and spiritual wellbeing as well as connecting the world through Kung Fu and Zen.

Chinese Kung Fu, also known as traditional Chinese Wushu or Guo Shu, is a very important part of ancient Chinese Culture. It is a window for the world to gain an insight to the five thousand year old civilization.

Inheriting the inner essence of Confucianism, Taoism and Zen philosophy, Chinese Kung Fu focus on both internal and external refinement. As the saying goes ”first mastering techniques to help defend oneself, then mastering skill to help oneself to improve body and mind, finally mastering the ultimate essence of Tao to enlightenment”.

“Zen” is a method of cultivating insight with concentration, physical and spiritual practice. By observing motion from stillness, we gain wisdom, which brings inner peace and harmony between humans and nature. Practice and study of Zen philosophy combines motion and stillness. The combination of Kung Fu and Zen represents the essence of the unity which grants deeper meaning of Chinese Kung Fu.

Master Xingxi was born in 1980 in Hubei Province. In 1998, he became a disciple to the great Master Shi Dejian. He quickly stood out because of his intelligence and diligent approach to training, becoming shifu's most trusted student. From 1998 to the end of 2007, Xingxi studied traditional Shaolin Kung Fu under his master at San Huang Zhai monastery, a branch school of the Shaolin Temple. In 2008, he left the monastery and came down from the mountains, where he became engaged in a wide range of work and activities, such as an overseer at a mine and as a bodyguard for VIPs.

Paul Wang

Professor Paul Wang, as a chief master, is now teaching meditation, insight calligraphy, and mindfulness Tai Chi at the Live Zen Center of the China Culture Center. As an invited instructor, he also teaches traditional Chinese thought for international programs at Capital Normal University and the Institute of Education. He has taught international students for over 10 years. His study and practice includes the principal classics of Confucius and Laozi, and three types of Buddhism meditation systems - Southeast Asia Buddhism, Chinese Zen Buddhism, and Tibetan Buddhism.

Zhang Wei Feng

Zhang Wei Feng was born into a Martial Arts family and has been training in Kung Fu since he was 10 years old. He learned and trained in the Wudang Temple and Mountains for more than 10 years. After learning the Taoist style Kung Fu, he turned to the Shaolin Temple to learn Kung Fu under the Shaolin Wugulun lineage. He received many Gold Medals and achieved champion status in various competitions. He is now the Kung Fu Master for Wu Dang Tai Chi, San Huang Pao Chui and Xin Yi at Kung Fu Zen

Kung Fu Zen Garden Retreat is situated in the foothills of Yan Mountain in Chang Ping District of Beijing. It is surrounded by beautiful mountain views and tranquil orchards.

Many famous and highly respected media personnel, film stars, artists, musicians choose to live around this area for its beautiful scenery and cultural influence.

The centre is located in a quadruple courtyard building with traditional Chinese décor, providing tranquil and peaceful environment for the enrichment practice of the body and mind.

Here at Kung Fu Zen we offer many different styles of Traditional Kung Fu programs including Shaolin, Wudang, Tai Chi, Ba Gua, Xing Yi and San Huang Pao Chui. Whether you are looking for a long retreat to soothe your soul, or one or two days to just get away from your 9 till 5 we can give you everything you need to unwind from your busy life and find inner Zen.

For practiced Kung Fu enthusiasts they offer longer programs from several months to several years to help you grow and develop your Kung Fu, traditional philosophy, meditation and internal cultivation and calligraphy within your daily life in a professional, masterful way.

The academy only provides vegetarian food. In traditional Shaolin culture, the vegetarian diet that the students eat at Wugulun Kung Fu Academy is believed to cleanse the body from impurities in the blood, while making the qi tranquil, and helping to create a peaceful state of mind.

Shaolin Temple vegetarian culture

Shaolin Temple is an ancient Buddhist temple. Shaolin Kung Fu and a vegetarian diet have always been part of its culture. Traditional Kung Fu training is about saving and storing energy for every organ. We eat in order to get energy. Energy in natural food comes from the sun, the air, the water, and the earth. By going directly to the earth for their food, vegetarians receive the purest, best-quality energy straight from its source, not already processed by another being, such as an animal.

Benefits of vegetarian to Kung Fu

It is believed that this energy, of a finer quality, can be used for a higher purpose like Kung Fu and meditation. During the Ming Dynasty, the Manchurians were trying to seize China by force while the imperial government of the Ming Dynasty was corrupt and incompetent. At that time, scholars who were trying to save the country wrote books expounding theories on how this could be done. They also advocated the practice of martial arts.

When the Manchu's finally invaded China, many people with high ideals and integrity did not want to be slaves under a new regime so they fled to the mountains and lived in seclusion. Some entered into a religious life. They focused on martial arts intensively in order to acquire the fighting skills to regain their country. Many of them already had good Kung Fu skills and brought together their collective knowledge of various local styles of Kung Fu to create a refined form.

Being vegetarian to improve Kung Fu skill

As time went on, Shaolin Wugulun Kung Fu constantly improved and developed. Another important factor in Shaolin Kung Fu reaching such a high level of skill and importance is the vegetarianism of the Shaolin monks, who were all Buddhist and followed Buddhas teachings of eating no meat. The monks saw vegetarianism as a means of reaching a high level of training. In addition, being a vegetarian can aid the practitioner in achieving a higher level of endurance while training and fighting.

For example, animals like horses and buffalos are vegetarian, their main diet consists of grass and they have a tremendous amount of stamina while running, even when encumbered with heavy things. On the other hand, tigers and leopards, with their diet of meat only are only able to maintain short periods of power. From a scientific point of view, when an animal is killed, it is known that in their state of shock, an animal undergoes a process, by which its cells alter and create poisons in the flesh.

Why vegetarian?

Buddhists believe that these poisons represent anger and fear, and remain trapped inside the animals flesh. When people eat this meat, the poisons and impurities enter their body, and people can easily get sick, angry, and depressed. When the mind and the body are in this unbalanced state, people cannot continue training on a regular basis. For traditional Shaolin culture, therefore, vegetarianism is not only important for religious beliefs, it is important for maintaining a healthy body as well.

Vegetarianism is a necessary foundation for attaining a high level of Kung Fu skills. Without a healthy body, ones Kung Fu cannot improve. In addition, vegetarianism helps to cleanse the body from impurities in the blood, while making the qi tranquil and helping to create a peaceful state of mind. Morality, ethics, and honor are other related issues. A Kung Fu practitioner spends his life studying something that in a split second, without a second thought, could be used to harm or kill someone. This ability has to be controlled.

Principle of Vegetarianism

The answer is the cultivation of a caring heart for all living creatures. A first basic principle should be to refuse to kill and eat animals. The anger that is brought out by combat training must be balanced out with a conscious effort to treat all people with compassion, understanding, and tolerance. Such principles of caring help create a balanced and healthy mind in which there is no threat that a Kung Fu practitioner will consider criminal wrongdoing.

As this level of conscience develops and expands, it helps to diminish negative feelings and behavior such as greed, anger, violence, and criminal acts of all kinds. This in turn allows the conscience of the Kung Fu practitioners to rise higher, and for them to eventually reach a state of enlightenment. An enlightened being has total awareness of his or her own self, body, and surrounding environment.

Vitalities of Vegetarianism to Kung Fu

Enlightened Kung Fu practitioners are aware of fear and danger before ever seeing or knowing the source of those feelings and their reactions to danger, whether in training or in real combat, are much faster. This is essential for mastering high-level Kung Fu skills and vegetarianism is a vital element in reaching this state of total and complete awareness.

It is a concern for many people that vegetarian food does not supply enough nutrition to the body. This is, in fact, not the case. When eating a balanced vegetarian diet, the body will receive ample nutrition for vitality and health. Master Shi Dejian and his disciples are living proof of this. Vegetarianism is essential for those who are serious about mastering the highest levels of Kung Fu.